Honey-Oat Wheat Bread
I was really excited when I created this recipe! It is a very soft and tender-crumb bread made with some whole wheat flour and rolled oats. Most homemade breads which incorporate whole wheat flour or oats almost always end up being hard with a very dense crumb structure. This loaf is however light and airy and can be used to make sandwiches. The taste of honey and whole wheat is amazing and the oats give this loaf some character. If you are looking for a perfect hybrid loaf of bread, I am happy to share this recipe with you.
INGREDIENTS:
(1) 260 Grams Bread Flour (2 Cups)
(2) 195 Grams Whole Wheat Flour (1-1/2 Cups)
(3) 50 Grams Rolled Oats (1/2 Cup)
(4) 1/4 Cup Honey (4 Tablespoons)
(5) 7 Grams Active Dry Yeast (About 2 Teaspoons)
(6) 56.5 Grams Melted Unsalted Butter (1/4 Cup)
(7) 1/2 Cup Warm Water (118 ml)
(8) 3/4 Cup Warm Milk/Buttermilk (177 ml)
(9) 1 Teaspoon Salt
(10) 1 Large Egg
PROCEDURE:
First, a few notes. Feel free to use only warm water, milk or buttermilk if you like. You can also use a combination of any. Whatever liquid you choose, the important thing is to make sure that it is warm so as to enable the yeast activate faster. In place of melted butter, you can use melted margarine or shortening. But if using any of these alternatives, you will be missing out on the buttery taste. I have used old fashioned rolled oats in this recipe as I prefer the texture. You can make use of instant oats if that is your preference.
(1) The first step is to activate your yeast by mixing it with the warm water and a tablespoon of honey. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you will notice that the yeast will begin to foam and grow. If this does not happen, your yeast is most likely dead. Try the process again or get some new yeast.
(2) In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place all the flours, oats and salt and mix to combine. With the mixer running on low speed, add the remaining honey, activated yeast, buttermilk and melted butter. When the dough starts coming together, switch to your dough hook and continue kneading for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth.
NOTE: The dough will look more like a very thick batter than a bread dough. This is because whole wheat flour has a lower gluten level than bread flour. Do not be tempted to add more flour to the dough as this will result in a very dense loaf. You will also notice that the dough is not as stretchy as bread dough made with bread flour, this is to be expected. Though the kneading process can be done by hand, it will be very difficult to handle this dough as it is very soft and sticky. I will thus advice the use of a stand mixer or food processor fitted with the dough blade.
(3) Place kneaded dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and keep in a warm place for it to proof. This takes about 2 hours. After the proofing period, the dough would have doubled in size. Due to low gluten level of whole wheat flour, the bread needs a longer proofing time to rise.
(4) Deflate the dough, place back in the greased bowl, cover and keep in the fridge overnight or up to 8 hours. Due to how soft the dough is, it will be very difficult to shape it at this stage. Just like brioche, the dough will get firmer and more manageable after some hours in the fridge. This is another reason why it is advisable to use butter for this recipe as butter solidifies when exposed to cold temperature. As a plus, the longer the time a dough has to rise before baking, the better the flavor.
(5) The next morning (or after 8 hours), the dough will be firm and would have risen in size, not quite doubled though. Deflate dough and shape into loaf. See how to shape loaf here. Place in greased 8 by 4 inch loaf pan, cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for another 2 hours hour or till the dough rises to the top of the pan. This gives the dough enough time to come to room temperature and rise. This is the third rise.
(6) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees about 15 minutes before end of the second rise. After the second rise, apply egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten) to top of the loaf. You can also sprinkle some rolled oats on the top of the loaf and slash the top with a sharp knife or blade. The slash, though for aesthetic purposes, also increases the surface area for the loaf to rise well during baking. Do not however make more than 1 slash or the loaf will collapse.
(7) Bake loaf in preheated oven for 35 – 40 mins, depending on how doughy you like your bread. If you want a strong crust, spray some water in the oven when you put the bread in and every 10 mins thereafter. If the bread starts getting dark too quickly, cover with it foil paper about 30 minutes into baking period.
(8) Place baked bread on wire rack to cool for about 10 mins before removing from pan. Slice and enjoy with some honey drizzled over the loaf or any way you enjoy your bread.
Check out my other bread recipes: Golden Crust Bread, Sandwich Bread and Brioche.
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Terry Adido is passionate about showing people how easy it is to recreate restaurant quality meals in the comfort of their kitchens. With a style of cooking he refers to as Afro-European Fusion, his meals are influenced greatly by French and Italian Cuisine with a West African twist. If you love good food, you are in for the ride of your life.
Hi Terry, i made butter using your recipe and it was very nice. i saved the buttermilk in the freezer, can i defrost it and use for this bread?
Yes you can. I usually keep my buttermilk in the freezer when it is nearing the best before date. Make sure you take it out of the freezer a day before you intend to use it so it thaws. Give it a good shake to mix the solids that might have separated back with the liquid.
Hi terri, the temp is it 350F or 350C?
350 F, 180 C
hi Terry,
this bread is awesome! baked it today without the rolled oats but i sprinkled some raisins and sunflower seeds on top. however, most of the raisins got burnt. how and when do you think i should add the raisins next time? can i use just whole wheat flour without the bread flour?
Hi. You should use the raisins inside the bread next time and sprinkle the top with the sunflower seeds. I have never made this bread without the bread flour. You can check for my whole wheat bread recipe on the bread page.
ok. thank you so much
Hi terry, am trying your honey oat bread, am at second proofing in refrigerator, but I won’t be able to continue until another 24hrs to 36hrs. I don’t know if the dough will still be good and not overrise in the refrigerator. Thanks
Hi. I have never kept it for that long and thus cannot say how it would react. Your feedback would be appreciated.
pls whats the difference between bread flour, cake flour and all purpose flour…. i assumed they were the same. can you expantiate pls?
Bread flour has a high gluten level suitable for baking breads. Cake flour is regular flour made light with some corn starch thus leading to lighter cakes. APF is regular flour.
Thanks Terry
You are welcome.
yaay, i made this today, but made mine multigrain.. added flaxseeds, oats, sesame seed to the dry ingredients before i baked. now my question is this.. i no4iced after baking when i brought it out that the insides were soft without the crumbs most naija breads have, but the outside was slightly hard. it was ok by me.. hut the people in the house kept saying its not done so i returned it into the oven and ended uo with a very hard slightly burnt exterior but soft interior. i cant. say what would happen when it’s back to room temp. how do i avoid this next time? thanks.. Sorry for the epistle
Hi Yinka. Whole wheat bread is not as light and fluffy as white bread. Having said that, did you preheat your oven before baking the bread. Looks like smth was off with your oven temperature. Returning bread to the oven after the initial baking is never a good remedy. I would advice that you make sure that the oven is properly preheated before you place the bread it in. It might also be that the addition of other ingredients changed the texture and structure of the bread (making it more dense).
Hi terry can u bake this as little buns… thanks for d aanswer in advance
Hi Lara, technically, all loaf recipes can be made into buns. So the answer will be yes. I have however not tried baking this recipe as buns yet so I cannot advice you on the outcome. You will need to adjust the baking time though.
hello thanks for your prompt response. i want to find out if i can baked this is the locally made cake pan?
Yes it can.
i am here again terry!!!!! loool
wanted to ask if you can bake in a glass bowl and what is the temperature adjustment
I usually bake some cakes in glass bowls. They have to be strong glass bowls like the pyrex brand. The oven temperature should be reduced by 25 degrees (325 instead of 350). For bread and other foods, there are oven safe glass wares which can be purchased.
thanks alot Terry!
You are welcome.